Search

For some reason, the file for the Annotated Bibliography homework was encountering an error in the download process, preventing the inclusion of the .pdf extension in the transfer. The situation has been resolved.

Just a reminder: ENC1102 is up to date with the revised reading schedule. We will be wrapping up our thesis statements on Death of a Salesman and The Truman Show tomorrow and beginning “We Real Cool” and “Sonny’s Blues.”

ENC 1101 TR:
1) Bring essay 3, analysis of an advertisement, to class, housed in a folder with introductory paragraph, 2 body paragraph topic sentences, cluster diagram completed to the 4th level, and peer review – all of which must be clearly labeled. I will be counting off for missing folders. The late paper policy is in effect. No late papers will be graded unless you have received confirmation from me prior to tomorrow for an extension. Remember that I will be grading you on several different scales, some of which include strong thesis statements and topic sentences and adherence to comma rules. Also, remember to clearly indicate that you went to the writing center on the top of your final draft if you did not get a stamp. I will only give you credit for the writing center visit after confirmation has been received from the communications center.
2) Begin answering questions on Dead Poets Society

ENC 1102 TR:
1) Bring group work to class and be prepared to present a solid comparative thesis statement on Death of a Salesman and The Truman Show
2) Complete the group assignment on your own essay topic. You will find a pdf copy of the assignment under the assignments link on our WebCT page. I will be collecting these for a grade.

The 3rd set of essays have been graded, as promised, and will be returned at roughly 9:45 am tomorrow morning. All your drafts and peer-reviews paid off tremendously as this class produced a strong set of essays. Many of them were enjoyable reads as well so thank you to those of you who really put effort into your writing!

The reading assignment for this week should be posted later today. Again, for MWF, the reading and reading journal posts will be due on Wednesday. For my TR classes, yours will be due on Thursday.

The advertising analysis assignment will be handed out Monday and Tuesday respectively. All ENC 1101 classes are slightly behind schedule on the syllabus in terms of the essay assignment. MWF essay portfolios will be due Monday 10/18 and TR essay portfolios will be due Thursday 10/21.

MWF classes will be working on cause/effect exercises in relation to the essay assignment on Monday so be sure to bring in a printed image of your chosen advertisement. You may either find an advertisement in a magazine or on the web. You may also take a picture of a billboard or other public advertisement or do a frame grab of a video/television advertisement. Whatever you choose, bring a printed copy to class on Monday or you will not be able to participate and will receive a grade of zero on the assignment.

TR classes will be working on group assignments on Tuesday. You will need to bring your printed advertisement on Thursday as well as your introductory paragraphs for essay 3. Failure to bring either of these will result in a zero on the assignment.

I will try to have TR classes essay 2 graded by Tuesday, although I make no promises.

We’re going to talk a little bit about a concept called “culture jamming” on Friday as another potential site of analysis for your “analysis of an advertisement” assignment. Basically, culture jamming is when someone revises something within popular culture, superimposes something on popular culture, or otherwise alters the message of popular culture (or advertising) in an attempt to gain control of and change the original intended meaning. One means of doing this is through graffiti and another is hacking into a website, television program, or radio frequency as a means of deterring the intended message. By whatever means, it is the way in which the consumer takes control of the message either to scramble the message or to send another entirely different, often contrasting message. If you are so adventurous as to find an example of culture jamming that you would like to pursue for your analysis essay, you have my permission to do so.

Day 5 of anthrax-strong antibiotics, and I am finally on my feet again. I mean this quite literally as my feet have not touched the cold terrazzo floor often in the past 4 days. Grading has resumed, and I am very slowly reading through your essays. Many of them have been very strong in the current class – 10304 – very good sick reading material.

Should progress continue at the rate of the past few days, I anticipate returning on Monday. My composition I classes need not worry about any readings at this point for Monday/Tuesday. We will probably take a week-long break from online readings, catch up, and focus on our textbook. You need to complete your readings in the textbook by Wednesday/Thursday depending on your class’s scheduled meeting time: Chapters 6 and 20.

Thank the many of you who gave Ms. Snow a warm welcome to our classroom. She filled me in on the progress all of you made in writing thesis statements, and she enjoyed the interactions and thoughts produced. Although Ms. Snow told me about a few groups where some members were not participating, she had high praises for many of your groups for the thoughtfulness and critical thinking displayed in your work,

We will be discussing thesis statements more on Monday/Tuesday, so if you failed to turn in your group’s thesis statements, be prepared to do so in class when we meet again.

And just to say this again for clarification: Reading Journal posts deal with online readings; Writing Journal posts are reflections on the writing you do in our class.

Today I’ve been grading more of your essays and creating a powerpoint for chapter five in your textbook, which you should be reading at this very moment – wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Think blue light, and try not to fall asleep when we embark on the journey towards creating more solid thesis statements. None of you can afford to tune out! Though the powerpoints highlight some key material in the textbook, you really still need to do the readings. You need the examples offered in the text, especially when we don’t have a lot of time to come up with our own in class. The process of learning to write a smart thesis (and an academic essay) begins first with good imitation, and as you gain insight and confidence, you will begin to stray from the formulaic so that your ideas represent your own personalities.

Speaking of personalities, many of yours shined through in your essay two completed drafts, and I was pleasantly surprised to be able to hear your voices (the ones you use in class) start to take form in 2nd and 3rd person. You still have a lot of work to do, but many of you are on a very successful path. This assignment is probably the most difficult of the entire semester, so breathe a deep sigh of relief and know that you can only become a more articulate 3rd person writer from this point on, that is, if you really put your mind to it.

One class of completed drafts has been graded, and I am not about to begin grading the prewriting materials. Stay tuned in class for approximate return times for your essay portfolios. I start with a different class each grading cycle, so if you were the first to get your essays back the first time around, expect yours a little later this time around.

Don’t forget the bell hooks’ reading “Confronting Class” to be completed by Wednesday or Thursday depending on your day rotation. Your initial discussion posts must be completed on those days before we meet. Your responses to your peers will be due the following class, Friday and Tuesday respectively.

So far in grading the second round of essays, I’m pleasantly surprised by how creative many of you have been in your topic choices. Many of your essays have made me laugh aloud, making the people sitting around me wonder what in the world could be so entertaining about student essays. If they only knew what you were writing about, they would understand. So far, the most entertaining essay has been one about dancing on a chair in the student cafeteria. I nearly peed my pants. Ok, not really. I have much more bladder control than that. I have also very much enjoyed an essay about a blind date – I swear I thought I was on one myself when reading it, and there was another essay about going to the beach alone to which I could really relate, although I have gone to the beach alone many times, and as the student noted, it is a very serene experience, especially the drive home with the wind in your face and the sun continuing to burn your skin even in the shade of the vehicle.

Some students forgot our discussion of publicly passing gas, and thus, they forgot the need to “decenter” and relate the described experience as something part of a larger set of common experience within our society. In those essays, I’ve been reminding students of the need to develop an overarching idea for their essays – something larger than the routine experience of daily life for the individual. This making of experience as a communal event is key to pulling analysis out of the details we include in our essays. I know for many of you this feels like stating the obvious, but once you get into the habit of providing these explanations, you will see your writing transform. It’s usually in retrospect that the light goes off.